IntroductionMobile Health (mHealth) programs have increasingly been used to tackle maternal and child health problems in low and middle income countries. However, few studies have evaluated how these programs have been perceived by intended users and beneficiaries. Therefore, we explored perceptions of healthcare officials and beneficiaries regarding RapidSMS Rwanda, an mHealth system used by Community Health Workers (CHWs) that was scaled up nationwide in 2013.MethodsWe conducted key informant interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders, providers, and beneficiaries of maternal and child health services at both the national and community levels. Semi-structured interviews were used to assess perceptions about the impact of and challenges facing the RapidSMS system. Interviews and focus group discussions were recorded (with the exception of one), transcribed verbatim, and analyzed.ResultsWe conducted a total of 28 in-depth interviews and 10 focus group discussions (93 total participants). A majority of respondents believed that RapidSMS contributed to reducing maternal and child mortality rates. RapidSMS was generally accepted by both CHWs and parents. Participants identified insufficient training, a lack of equipment, and low CHW motivation as the main challenges facing RapidSMS.ConclusionOur findings suggest that an mHealth program can be well accepted by both policymakers, health providers, and the community. We also found significant technical challenges that have likely reduced its impact. Addressing these challenges will serve to strengthen future mHealth programs.
Maternal and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. A popular approach to counter these high rates is interventions delivered using mobile phones (mHealth). However, few mHealth interventions have been implemented nationwide and there has been little evaluation of their effectiveness, particularly at scale. Therefore, we evaluated the Rwanda RapidSMS programme—one of the few mHealth programmes in Africa that is currently operating nationwide. Using interrupted time series analysis and monthly data routinely reported by public health centres (n = 461) between 2012 and 2016, we studied the impact of RapidSMS on four indicators: completion of four antenatal care visits, deliveries in a health facility, postnatal care visits and malnutrition screening. We stratified all analyses based on whether the district received concurrent additional supports, including staff and equipment (10 out of 30 Districts). We found that community health workers in Rwanda sent more than 9.3 million messages using RapidSMS, suggesting the programme was successfully implemented. We found that the implementation of the RapidSMS system combined with additional support including training, supervision and equipment provision increased the use of maternal and child health services. In contrast, implementing the RapidSMS system alone was ineffective. This suggests that mHealth programmes alone may be insufficient to improve the use of health services. Instead, they should be considered as a part of more comprehensive interventions that provide the necessary equipment and health system capacity to support them.
Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers toward the use of online medical databases for clinical decision-making processes. Subjects and methods: The study population included all the licensed oral health care providers living in Rwanda, registered either with the Rwanda Allied Health Professional Council (RAHPC) or Rwanda Medical and Dental Council (RMDC). A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect demographic data as well as data regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers regarding the use of online medical databases for making clinical decisions. A pilot study with 12 oral health care providers was done before the main study to pretest the questionnaire. Results: The study results show that among the 201 respondents, 80% (N=160) reported using internet-based resources to support their clinical decisions, while 20% (N=41) of oral health care providers do not use online resources when making their clinical decisions. In general, there was a positive attitude towards internet-based resources among the participants, as 92% (N=184) respondents believe that internet-based resources are helpful in clinical decision-making processes. Of clinical importance, 68% respondents (N=136) believe that by using current internet-based information, better clinical care can be offered to their patients. Conclusion: Educating oral health care providers on the useful and appropriate online resources available for supporting clinical decision-making processes might increase the efficiency of patient care.
BackgroundDental caries is still a health problem worldwide, its prevalence and incidence are associated with various factors like age, sex, social status, dietary patterns and oral hygiene habits.MethodologyA Secondary data collected from outreaches done by UR CMHS, School of Dentistry at Kimironko II Primary School was analyzed. This secondary data had been obtained using structured questionnaires with close ended questions. Clinical examination had also been done to gather information. SPSS statistical software package version 22 was used to analyse data from Community outreach done at Kimironko Primary School in August 2019.ResultsThe prevalence of dental caries of 42.4% was found among children aged 6-12 years old of Kimironko II Primary School. The researchers found the following to be statistically significantly associated with prevalence of dental caries: gender (p=0.042), dental visits (p=0.001), and use of chew sticks or miswaks (p=0.041). Females were 1.4 times more likely to develop dental caries (OR: 1.462; 95% CI: 1.16-2.017; p=0.021) and children who did not use toothpick were 2 times more likely to develop dental caries (OR: 2.149; 95%CI: 1.251-4.395; p=0.036), whereas visiting a dental practitioner was protective against dental caries (OR: 0.362, 95% CI: 0.251-0.516; p=0.001).ConclusionDental caries is prevalent among children of Kimironko II Primary School. Appropriate preventive measures should be taken to protect those found to be exposed.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(3):341-346
Background Dental traumas are widely prevalent in contact sports and are among the main public oral health concerns. They are attributed to nonuse and/or insufficient use of mouth guards, as protective means, for players in the game. Objectives The study aims to assess the prevalence of dental traumas among the contact sports and to determine the significance of using mouth guards in the prevention of such traumas. Methodology This was a cross sectional study conducted on the selected sports games in Kigali city, Rwanda. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and analysed for any associations between independent variables and dependent variable with chi-square and logistic regression tests. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used for the analysis. Results The prevalence of dental trauma was 58.9% among contact sports players in Kigali. Most respondents had information about mouth guards (94.7%) and many of them (62.2%) affirmed they could prevent dental traumas. This study has shown a significant association between dental traumas and mouth-guard use where players who did not use mouthguards were 5.8 times more likely to have dental traumas compared to those who used them regularly [OR=5.81;95% CI=2.44-13.82; p<0.001]. Conclusion A high prevalence of dental traumas was observed among the players despite the proven protection of using mouthguards. Therefore, putting emphasis on regular use of mouthguards would result in a huge reduction of risk and keep those traumas to a minimum. Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2022;5(3):315-322
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